White Wine Pizza Dough

From Russ Faulk at Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet: "Making pizza dough from scratch really isn’t a lot of work. I used to dig out the mixer and use the dough hook for kneading, but the dough actually doesn’t need to be worked enough to bother with the mixer. Since I started kneading the dough by hand right in the mixing bowl, I’ve been making dough from scratch more often."

Ingredients (yields 28 ounces):

¾ cup warm water

Pinch of sugar

3 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup white wine, at room temperature

1¼ teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for coating

3 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons honey

Instructions:

-Put 6 tablespoons of the lukewarm (100° to 110°F) water, sugar and yeast in a small bowl, mix well and set aside for 5 minutes or until frothy.

-In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining water with the white wine, salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to stir in 1 cup of the flour, creating a batter. Stir the honey and the yeast mixture into the batter.

-Add the remaining flour and continue stirring with the wooden spoon for a few minutes. Knead the mixture in the bowl until smooth and relatively firm. Clean the sides of the bowl, oil the dough with a little more olive oil and cover the bowl with a towel.

-Let rise for 45 minutes. A good tip is to run a load of dishes in the dishwasher while the dough rises right above the washer door. The warm, moist air helps with the rising.

-After 45 to 60 minutes, punch the dough down, split in half or quarters, knead again briefly and let rest 15 minutes more before rolling into pizza crusts.

Unused dough may be frozen. Makes enough dough for two 14-inch round pizzas or 4 individual pizzas. For more pizzas, make the dough 1 batch at a time rather than multiplying the recipe. Try to keep the ingredients simple, and don't overload the crust.

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